


Pinned Down

by watcherofworlds



Series: Whumptober 2019 [16]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Episode: s07e21 Living Proof, Missing Scene, Prompt Fill, Whumptober, Whumptober 2019
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-18
Updated: 2019-10-18
Packaged: 2020-12-21 14:50:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 528
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21076691
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/watcherofworlds/pseuds/watcherofworlds
Summary: Prompt Fill for Whumptober Day 16 "Pinned Down"





	Pinned Down

Oliver had to get out. That was all he knew. He had to get out of here and stop Emiko before her grudge his family brought about the deaths of thousands of innocent people. But he couldn’t. He was trapped, pinned down between two slabs of concrete so precariously balanced that they might shift and crush him between them at even the slightest movement.

Oliver looked to his right and saw open space, an area that the fallen pieces of the building hadn’t covered. It was close, but it might as well have been a million miles away. He couldn’t reach it, not pinned down the way he was. He chanced moving, just a little, gravel shifting beneath him, in order to determine exactly how treacherous a position he was actually in. There were several pieces of rebar sticking up out of the concrete mere inches away from him, that had only missed impaling him by that same amount. They, and the slanted way the slab of concrete above him was lying, were the only things keeping the slabs from shifting and him from being crushed. No chance of escape, then. The only thing he could do was lie still and wait for the team to find him. If they were even alive.

Oliver was sure that the waiting and the uncertainty would kill him, even if the shifting rubble didn’t. He couldn’t stand not knowing if the team was alive, if Felicity and the baby were okay, if Emiko had enacted whatever her plan was. He hated feeling so helpless.

With a yell of frustration, he pounded ineffectually against the concrete slab above his head with the heel of his hand. He immediately regretted it, realizing that he’d risked shifting the slab by that action, but his impotent anger at how helpless he felt had no other outlet.

At least he had, for the moment at least, regained consciousness. At least his strange nostalgia trip was over, and he’d gotten the message his subconscious had been trying to send him- killing Emiko would only perpetuate the cycle of violence and anger and hate their father’s actions had gotten them both caught up in, and if he ever wanted to be free of that cycle, if he ever wanted his _ family _ to be free of it and be able to start over with a clean slate, he’d have to find another way to stop her. But of course, he couldn’t stop anything while he was still trapped here.

To that end, as hard as it was, he forced himself to lie still and not make any more escape attempts that might shift the rubble and crush him. He closed his eyes, slowed his breathing, and forced himself to wait for rescue. It was the only thing he could do right now, and there was no point in wasting his energy on futile efforts.

After what seemed like an eternity, Oliver heard footsteps and voices. The team, having worked their own way free of the rubble, was coming to help him find his. And when they did, he felt he was finally,truly ready to face what came next.


End file.
